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The church is like a garden. As Paul says, our work in the church is that of planting and watering, whereas God alone causes the growth (1 Cor. 3:6-7). Furthermore, the church is not an organization but a living organism. The past condition of a church in a locality cannot be compared with its present condition, because the church is an organism with organic functions and the ability to grow.
What is it to have an organic function? Suppose there is a table here with a chair next to it and a cup on top of it. These three things would never generate any kind of organic function. They would remain in the same position after one year, three years, or even ten years. Nothing would grow from them; rather, they would become dirtier, older, more faded, and less attractive. This is because the table, the chair, and the cup do not have any organic function. However, suppose there is an orchard that has just been planted with tree seedlings. At first, these seedlings may seem quite small and unsightly, almost ready to wither, yet after exposure to the sun and the rain, these unsightly fruit trees start to grow and even bring forth fruit. This is the inherent organic function of fruit trees.
Generally speaking, organic functions need to be developed. The seedlings may not be very evident in the first couple of years, but they will be manifested by the third year. After a while the formerly unsightly, small tree seedlings will grow quite big and tall and will begin to produce fruit. Even though initially they might have looked like they were about to die, eventually they will be so living and exuberant. Initially there might not have been even a single leaf, but eventually they will be full of green leaves. This kind of situation fills us with joy. The reason for our joy is that the manifestation of the organic functions fills us with hope.
When I came to Manila thirty years ago, the situation was completely different from the present situation. At that time the church life was not very active. I could not see much fruit being produced, nor could I see the organic functions being manifested in the services. Under God’s sovereignty He arranged for me to come here and to have three groups of people contact me. The first group was a group of eight to nine elders. One brother took the lead to tell me that both the church and the work had not been built up. Therefore, he said that they would like to hand over the church completely to me for me to take the lead.
The second group was a group of eight to nine co-workers, who were represented by a senior co-worker. He told me that the work here had never been built up and that they were ashamed of this. Therefore, he was representing the co-workers in their desire to place the work under my leadership. On the same night all the deacons and deaconesses gathered at a sister’s home. They sent a brother as their representative to tell me that they had not been serving properly in the church and that they too would like to hand over to me the service of the church for me to take the lead. These three groups of people, in three separate places and times, expressed the same desire.
After a couple of weeks on December 31, the end of that year, I called for a meeting and gathered these three groups of people together. In the meeting I said to them, “I have been here for one and a half months. The elders, co-workers, and deacons have all said to me that they want to hand over the church, the work, and the service here for me to take the lead. When we are sent by the Lord to a certain place, there are two ways to carry out the work. One way is to help the church in that locality in the carrying out of its work. The other way is to assume full leadership in the church in that locality after the church has handed itself over to us. Since we are all before the Lord, we must be honest about our situation. Now all of you are willing to let me take the lead; I wish to know from you what kind of leadership you are expecting from me. In other words, do you want me to come here just to help you, or do you want me to assume full leadership?”
I remember very clearly that after I said this, the leading elder stood up to say that, as the representative of the elders, he would like to hand the church entirely to me and would ask me to assume full leadership. After a while, a senior co-worker also stood up to say that, as the representative of the co-workers, he would like to hand over the work and would ask me to assume full leadership. Following that, the deacons, represented by one of the brothers, also indicated to me that they were willing to put themselves fully under my leadership. Therefore, I said, “Thank the Lord that all of you co-workers, elders, and deacons have expressed the same desire. Therefore, I accept.”
At that time I told them, “First, I hope that there would not be any change in personnel in both the work and the service in the church. The elders will still be elders, the co-workers will still be co-workers, and the deacons will remain as deacons. The former practices, however, must all be stopped tonight and should exist no more. Starting tomorrow morning, all the practices must be new. The first thing to be done is to set up the deacons’ office for the deacons to serve there. Everything is to be done in a new way; the old way definitely must not be used.” Then I asked two sisters to be in the deacons’ office to establish principles for all the services. Due to the limitation in time I intended to gradually rearrange the services of the elders and of the deacons as well as the work of the co-workers.
Later, two things happened. First, the senior co-worker who had represented all the co-workers in handing themselves over actually had not really handed himself over. Shortly after he did this, the two sisters whom I had designated to be in charge of the deacons’ office told me that whenever I returned to Taiwan, that brother would come in to tell them to do differently from whatever I had arranged. I told them, “It does not matter. While I am here, just do according to what I have arranged. When I am gone, if that brother does not want it, then just forget it.” Therefore, the problem that occurred in 1961 in the church in Manila did not happen suddenly. Instead, the cause had been hidden there from the very beginning.
Second, when I arrived in the Philippines in the spring of 1954, the elders came to meet with me. At that time one of the leading brothers said he realized that under my leadership the elders could no longer be elders in name only but had to give all their strength and time. He felt that he could not give himself fully and that he also did not have the adequate time. Therefore, in the presence of everyone he wanted to resign his eldership. His word was very honest and very sincere. All the other elders followed him, wanting to resign from the eldership. At this time the dissenting senior co-worker said that he too wanted to resign from the eldership and asked me to appoint some new elders. So I responded by saying that I needed to pray and seek the leading of the Lord and that before I appointed new elders, the original elders must continue their responsibilities.
After four weeks had passed, they urged me again and again to appoint the elders quickly. However, the more they urged me, the more I felt that I needed to slow down. During this period of seeking and waiting, I continually contacted the older saints, especially the serving sisters and the co-workers, inquiring about their feelings. They gave me their feelings as to which elders ought to remain in the eldership and which brothers should also be added as elders.
One afternoon that dissenting senior co-worker came to the place where I lived and came directly into my room to urge me to get the matter of the eldership resolved. At that time I sensed that he really did not want to give up his eldership but was merely trying to retreat in order to advance. He was trying to do this because in the past the elders had not always listened to him. He wanted me to make a new arrangement in the hope that I would openly declare him to be the number-one elder. Then others would have to listen to him in the future. Because I had such a sense in my spirit, I immediately told him in all frankness not to try to use me. Then I went back to pray. I inwardly sensed the Lord telling me not to be maneuvered by others but to make the new and proper arrangements according to my real sense derived through the fellowship with all the saints.
After another week the elders invited me to be with them, asking me what final decisions I had made. I then fellowshipped with them my feeling, saying, “Of all the elders, only two will remain, whereas another four new ones will be added.” The ones retained did not include that senior co-worker; the ones added also did not include him. At that time whether they agreed or not, they had to comply because they had begged me to make the arrangements.
After the transfer of the eldership, something immediately happened to test the newly established elders. At that time there was a certain brother who was coming to Manila. Due to his relationship with the church in Manila in the early days, the brothers wondered whether they ought to invite him to preach the gospel. The two original elders did not necessarily agree with inviting him, but since they did not wish to offend him, they wanted to act in a diplomatic way. The four newly added elders, being serious in their undertaking, definitely did not agree. Unable to settle the issue among themselves, they came to ask me. I told them that I was not an elder in the church in Manila. The church in Manila had been given to the service of the six of them, so they should pray earnestly to see how things should be handled. This was their business; they had to make the decision before the Lord.
The original elders said that since this brother was a popular evangelist and the church in Manila needed to preach the gospel, it would be all right to invite him just to do the work of preaching the gospel. The new elders said that since this brother was not taking the same path as we were but was a traveling evangelist, it would not be proper to invite him to carry out his ministry. They also said that though the church needed to preach the gospel, the church more urgently needed the building up. For the building up of the church, it would not be absolutely necessary to invite this brother to preach the gospel. Moreover, they felt that since the church in Manila had already been handed over to me to be built up under my leadership, they should set aside this matter for the time being. Since the original elders felt that they did not have a more convincing or stronger argument, they finally agreed not to invite this brother.
The purpose of going over this history is so that we would realize that the turmoil in the church in Manila in 1961 did not begin in 1961. Rather, the seed was planted there in the beginning. I visited the Philippines yearly for eleven years. Aside from Manila I did not go anywhere else; I worked only in Manila. Within me I knew where the element of rejection lay, but I did not reveal it. My attitude was that as long as the church in Manila did not openly reject me, I would just do the work of sowing, planting, and watering. I did not care for what existed in Manila; I only sowed, planted, and watered. Each time I came, I would not touch anything negative but would sow, plant, and water in a positive way. I was very clear within that one day this place would reject me, but until that day came, I had to take the opportunity to sow, plant, and water. It was not until the real rejection became open and manifest that I stopped coming to Manila. However, I was still waiting to see if what I had sown, planted, and watered would bring forth some fruit.
In 1961 turmoil arose, and the church in Manila truly and completely rejected me. The opposing ones wrote on a long bench in the old meeting hall: “Down with the four elders; cast out Witness Lee.” When the news reached me, I thought, “Will there be any result of my sowing, planting, and watering here for the past eleven years?” On the following morning, an elder who customarily attended morning watch at the old meeting hall saw four guards guarding the meeting hall and a notice posted on the door declaring that no one without the express permission of the Board of Trustees could enter the meeting hall. The elders telegraphed me that very day to tell me about the real situation and asked me what should be done since the meeting hall had been taken over. I did not know how to reply. After looking to the Lord for more than a day, I sent a reply telegram saying that they should negotiate with the two main opposing ones. Subsequently, however, the brothers found another hall in which to meet.
Today I am very happy and at ease because I can see that the work of sowing, planting, and watering during those eleven years have yielded fruit. At that time some of the brothers were still small “tree seedlings”—only sprouts with hardly any growth. Today those brothers have become elders. Some who were not attractive then have become quite beautiful now. There is a brother who is now an elder. It was difficult at that time to discern whether he was a little “plant” or a “piece of stone.” Now he has grown to be a very sturdy “tree,” full of the organic function. When I listen to his prayers or pay attention to his sharing, I feel that he is inwardly bright with clear revelation. The sky above him is clear. Thank and praise the Lord. This work is not of man but of God; it is God who causes such ones to grow.
This kind of open fellowship is especially for the young saints to see that we should not do the work of an organization. We should only do the organic work of a living organism. The reason we are happy is because we can see the manifestation of the organic function in this organism. Due to God’s mercy and grace, during those eleven years I did not do the work of an organization; rather, bit by bit I was there doing an organic work. Today everyone can see the function of this organism. The church is God’s garden in which there are many big trees as well as many smaller ones growing. They will all grow and bear fruit, manifesting the organic function.
More than one hundred churches in the southern islands of the Philippines have been raised up through the sixty lessons of the Crucial Truths in the Holy Scriptures. This was not due to organization or man’s arrangement. This was entirely the result of the development of the Lord’s organic function within the saints. They also testified that the Life-studies have rendered them tremendous help, not just giving them some outward supply or some understanding of objective doctrines but causing them to grow in life and to have subjective and real experiences. More than ten years ago when I went to Mindanao, what I saw brought me much joy. Today when I see so many of the saints in Mindanao fervently seeking the Lord by reading the spiritual literature among us, I am filled with even greater joy within. Through fellowship I have discovered that they have a clear vision. This is proof that the churches in Mindanao are not the work of an organization but entirely the issue of the life supply in the Body of Christ and the result of the manifestation of the organic function. This deeply touches me within.
Hence, we see that the Lord has given the entire Philippines to His recovery because the Lord’s pure gospel and His complete truth are in His recovery. The Spaniards brought Catholicism to the Philippines, and later the missionaries from the United States came to work here. Consequently, the Philippines is overall a Christian country. Nevertheless, most Filipinos know only a little about God and have heard only a fraction of the gospel, which in most cases was not the pure gospel. This is beside the fact that most know little concerning the truth. The people here know about the existence of God and also fear God, but there is not much preaching of the pure gospel and even less speaking of the complete truth. Thank the Lord that He gave us a period of eleven years to open up the entire New Testament, chapter by chapter and verse by verse. During those eleven years we studied exhaustively, and what the Lord unveiled to us has now been put into print for you to have in your hands. There are many rich truths within that need to be revealed to God’s children.
The New Testament was completed during the apostolic age. However, for two thousand years man’s understanding of the New Testament has been incomplete. The Bible that is now in the hands of Christians has not been that open. Today there are many expositions of the Bible in Christianity. Among these expositions there are also many interpretations of the truth. Most of the interpretations, however, stop with the light and revelation of one hundred fifty years ago, whereas the light and revelation in the Life-studies are up to date and also complete and rich. For example, the Triune God’s dispensing of life and God’s New Testament economy are altogether new revelations. This kind of terminology and speaking cannot be found in any publications in Christianity. However, in the Lord’s recovery there are many messages of this kind. All these are the latest revelations gradually shown to us by God during the last ten to twenty years. Take the New Jerusalem for example. You cannot find one book in Christianity explaining and developing all the items of life related to the New Jerusalem in such a thorough way as you can in the publications in the Lord’s recovery.
The gospel that we preach in the Lord’s recovery is the purest, highest, and most complete gospel. For example, concerning the Lord’s death on the cross, where in any other book can you find that the Lord had seven statuses when He suffered death on the cross? This proves that the light which the Lord has given us is clear and complete. Christianity in the Philippines has a history of at least three hundred years. There may be almost fifty million Christians in the Philippines, but they are all in an unclear state—they are in a cloud. People know there is a God and have heard a bit of the gospel, but the sky over them is not clear but cloudy. They seem to know God, but in reality they do not know God. They are altogether ignorant of what God is all about, what He is doing, and what He wants to gain today. Therefore, we must receive the burden to preach to them the divine truths in the Lord’s recovery.
No one is able to destroy or overthrow the Lord’s recovery on this earth because it has a very solid foundation. The Lord’s recovery, as God’s garden flourishing abundantly, is firmly rooted. Recently, several hundred young people have come into the church life. We know that this is just the beginning; thousands more will come into the Lord’s recovery to enter into the divine truths. Furthermore, one day they will all be able to stand up before millions to preach the pure gospel and to speak the divine truths. I have the boldness to make such a prediction and also the faith that this word will soon come true.
Hence, we must pay attention to equipping ourselves so that we may be suitable for the Lord’s use. In this way, through us the Lord will be able to gain our locality, as well as the whole earth, with the pure gospel, the complete truth, and the normal and proper church life.
First, we must be clear that the Lord’s move is definitely not organizational but organic. We have seen through history that from 1950, when the Lord began His work in Manila, to the present, we have not been doing an organizational work but one of sowing, planting, and watering so that the church of the living God can develop her organic function. Today in the Philippines all the fruit has come not through organization but through the organic growth of the church producing that which is living and of life to become an organic Body. In the Lord’s recovery we do not emphasize organization, nor do we pay attention to position and reputation. The grace that we have received is the grace of life; this life is Christ Himself, who today is the all-inclusive Spirit, the Triune God experienced by us. He is growing in us and in the church. The more He grows, the more He multiplies, and the more He flourishes. Through the church as the organic Body and God’s garden, the Lord will be able to fulfill His purpose and accomplish His economy.
